Cloaking authority system

Abstract

A cloaking authority system that securely and anonymously identifies a misbehaving device based on its digital certificate. The system may include a cloaking authority server or device that is communicatively connected to a misbehavior authority server, and may also include a pseudonym certificate authority device, and a registration authority device. The cloaking authority device receives, from the misbehavior authority server, a request for a cloak index, wherein the request for the cloak index includes the linkage value from a PC of a misbehaving computerized device. The cloaking authority device processes the linkage value to produce a cloak index, which identifies the misbehaving computerized device and which is unique and anonymous, and transmits it to the requesting misbehavior authority server. The misbehavior authority server uses the cloak index to identify the specific computerized device that has misbehaved, usually repeatedly.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A system for identifying a misbehaving computerized device, the system comprising:
 a misbehavior authority device; and 
 a cloaking authority device that is communicatively connected to the misbehavior authority device; 
 wherein the system performs operations comprising:
 receiving, by the misbehavior authority device, a report about the misbehaving computerized device, wherein the report includes a pseudonym certificate from the misbehaving computerized device, and wherein the pseudonym certificate includes a linkage value; 
 transmitting, by the misbehavior authority device and to the cloaking authority device, a request for a cloak index, wherein the request for the cloak index includes the linkage value; 
 processing, by the cloaking authority device, the linkage value to produce a cloak index, which identifies the misbehaving computerized device; 
 transmitting, by the cloaking authority device, the cloak index to the misbehavior authority device; 
 receiving, by the misbehavior authority device, the cloak index from the cloaking authority; and 
 determining, by the misbehavior authority device and using the cloak index, that a specific computerized device has repeatedly misbehaved. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The system of  claim 1 , the operations further comprising:
 directing, by the misbehavior authority device, a plurality of computerized devices to ignore the specific computerized device that has repeatedly misbehaved. 
 
     
     
       3. The system of  claim 1 , wherein processing, by the cloaking authority device, the linkage value to produce the cloak index comprises:
 obtaining, from a pseudonym certificate authority device, first information that is used to produce the cloak index, wherein the information is associated with the linkage value. 
 
     
     
       4. The system of  claim 3 , wherein processing, by the cloaking authority device, the linkage value to produce the cloak index comprises:
 obtaining, from a registration authority device, second information that is used to produce the cloak index, wherein the additional information is associated with the first information. 
 
     
     
       5. The system of  claim 1 , wherein processing, by the cloaking authority device, the linkage value to produce the cloak index comprises:
 receiving, by the cloaking authority device and from a pseudonym certificate authority device, a hash of a pseudonym certificate request (HPCR) that caused the pseudonym certificate that corresponds to the linkage value to be generated; 
 receiving, by the cloaking authority device and from a registration authority device, a hash of a linkage chain identifier that corresponds to the pseudonym certificate identified by the HPCR, wherein the hash of the linkage chain identifier identifies the misbehaving computerized device; and 
 determining, by the cloaking authority device, the cloak index, which is based on the linkage chain identifier and which identifies the misbehaving computerized device. 
 
     
     
       6. The system of  claim 1 , wherein processing, by the cloaking authority device, the linkage value to produce the cloak index comprises:
 transmitting, by the cloaking authority device and to a pseudonym certificate authority device, a message that includes the linkage value; 
 receiving, by the cloaking authority device and from the pseudonym certificate authority device, a message that includes a hash of a pseudonym certificate request (HPCR) that caused the pseudonym certificate to be generated; 
 transmitting, by the cloaking authority device and to a registration authority device, a message that includes the HPCR; 
 receiving, by the cloaking authority device and from the registration authority device, a message that includes a hash of a linkage chain identifier that corresponds to the pseudonym certificate and that identifies the misbehaving computerized device; and 
 determining, by the cloaking authority device, the cloak index, which is based on the linkage chain identifier and which identifies the misbehaving computerized device. 
 
     
     
       7. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the computerized device is a vehicle. 
     
     
       8. A method, implemented by a misbehavior authority computer, for identifying a misbehaving computerized device, the method comprising:
 receiving a report about the misbehaving computerized device, wherein the report includes a pseudonym certificate from the misbehaving computerized device, and wherein the pseudonym certificate includes a linkage value; 
 transmitting, to a cloaking authority, a request for a cloak index that corresponds to the misbehaving computerized device, wherein the request for the cloak index includes the linkage value from the pseudonym certificate from the misbehaving computerized device; 
 wherein the cloaking authority:
 transmits, to a pseudonym certificate authority, a message including the linkage value, wherein the pseudonym certificate authority determines a hash of a pseudonym certificate request (HPCR) that caused the pseudonym certificate to be generated; 
 receives, from the pseudonym certificate authority, a message including the HPCR; 
 transmits, to a registration authority, a message including the HPCR; 
 receives, from the registration authority, a message including a hash of a linkage chain identifier that corresponds to the pseudonym certificate and that identifies the misbehaving computerized device; and 
 determines the cloak index, which corresponds to the linkage chain identifier and which identifies the misbehaving computerized device; 
 
 receiving the cloak index from the cloaking authority; and 
 determining, using the cloak index, that a specific computerized device has repeatedly misbehaved. 
 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 directing a plurality of computerized devices to ignore the specific computerized device that has repeatedly misbehaved. 
 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 8 , wherein the cloaking authority determines the cloaking index by creating, using the hash of the linkage chain identifier as a seed in a random number generator, a random number as the cloak index. 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 8 , wherein the cloaking authority stores the cloak index that was determined in a cloak index table; and stores the hash of the linkage chain identifier in the cloak index table in association with the cloak index. 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 11 , wherein the cloaking authority determines the cloaking index by accessing the cloak index from the cloak index table based on the hash of the linkage chain identifier. 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 8 , wherein the computerized device is a vehicle. 
     
     
       14. A system for identifying a misbehaving computerized device, the system comprising:
 a memory containing instructions; and 
 a processor, operably coupled to the memory, that executes the instructions to perform operations comprising: 
 receiving, from a misbehavior authority, a request for a cloak index that corresponds to the misbehaving computerized device, wherein the request for the cloak index includes a linkage value from a pseudonym certificate from the misbehaving computerized device; 
 transmitting, to a pseudonym certificate authority, a message including the linkage value, wherein the pseudonym certificate authority determines a hash of a pseudonym certificate request (HPCR) that caused the pseudonym certificate to be generated; 
 receiving, from the pseudonym certificate authority, a message including the HPCR; 
 transmitting, to a registration authority, a message including the HPCR; 
 receiving, from the registration authority, a message including a hash of a linkage chain identifier that corresponds to the pseudonym certificate and that identifies the misbehaving computerized device; 
 determining the cloak index, which corresponds to the linkage chain identifier and which identifies the misbehaving computerized device; and 
 transmitting the cloak index to the misbehavior authority. 
 
     
     
       15. The system of  claim 14 , wherein determining the cloak index comprises:
 creating a random number as the cloak index. 
 
     
     
       16. The system of  claim 15 , wherein creating a random number comprises:
 creating the random number using the hash of the linkage chain identifier as a seed in a random number generator. 
 
     
     
       17. The system of  claim 14 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 storing the cloak index that was determined in a cloak index table; and 
 storing the hash of the linkage chain identifier in a cloak index table in association with the cloak index. 
 
     
     
       18. The system of  claim 17 , wherein determining the cloak index comprises:
 accessing the cloak index from the cloak index table based on the hash of the linkage chain identifier. 
 
     
     
       19. The system of  claim 17 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 storing, in the cloak index table, a query time in association with the cloak index and the hash of the linkage chain identifier; 
 updating the query time whenever the cloak index is accessed; and 
 deleting the cloak index and the hash of the linkage chain identifier and the query time from the cloak index table after a predetermined amount of time passes after the query time. 
 
     
     
       20. The system of  claim 14 , wherein the computerized device is a vehicle.